“Effective Online Treatment Now Available for Long-Term Dizziness: Scientifically Proven and Accessible to Everyone”

General practitioner researcher and project leader Vincent van Vugt is pleased that the online treatment is now available to everyone: “It is great that this underexposed and scientifically substantiated treatment for long-term dizziness is finally accessible to everyone. General practitioner care is currently under pressure and as a general practitioner I experience that myself.”

Balance system disturbance

Dizziness, just like headaches, is very common. It is caused by a disturbance in the balance system, but the actual cause is not always clear. Causes of dizziness can include: inflammation of the balance organ, Ménière’s disease, cardiac arrhythmias, hyperventilation and low blood pressure. But in many cases, dizziness is a MUS, or a somatic unexplained physical complaint, in which stress, among other things, can play a role.

Wherever it comes from, it is clear that it is a very annoying complaint that can turn people’s lives upside down. In practice, it is even one of the most common complaints for which people visit the general practice. A quarter of people even suffer from dizziness at some point and this is even half among people over 85.

Ineffective medication for vertigo

Prolonged vertigo is not always treated well. For example, patients with long-term dizziness are still too often prescribed ineffective medication by their GP. There are no effective medicines available for long-term dizziness. Despite this, GPs still prescribe medication, such as betahistine, for about 1 in 10 patients with dizziness. In practice, targeted exercise therapy appears to really work and it appears to be successful in an online setting as well.

Scientifically proven remedy

Amsterdam UMC has developed a scientifically proven remedy for vertigo complaints in recent years. The exercise therapy in question for the vestibular system is now part of the national guideline for the treatment of vertigo complaints and is therefore now also available online for free posed.

This was made possible with the help of a ZonMw grant and thanks to the cooperation of Amsterdam UMC with the Dutch College of General Practitioners (NHG) and patient organization Stichting Hoormij NVVS. On other fronts, too, digital care and other forms of remote care will increasingly become part of normal care in the coming years and will be structurally embedded in guidelines. For example, ZonMW invests in several projects in which professional organizations in the healthcare sector include recommendations about care at a distance instead of physical care in their guidelines.

Online approach to dizziness is catching on

According to GP-in-training and PhD student Hà Ngo, patients with long-term dizziness are looking forward to online treatment: “Patients are happy that they can now receive treatment without having to travel. Dizziness can make your world small. Even driving can be difficult.” It is therefore great that the online tool is available free of charge and that people can practice at home in this way and thus take action themselves against the undermining complaints.